Gods Among Men Downtown Washington

Solstice turned around quickly, her teeth gritting. She was outnumbered, she knew this, but she had to do something. She winced as she moved her arm, her shoulder beyond screwed now. "You're going to risk killing thousands for the live of one man." She hissed out, her fists clenched. Ice began to climb up her hand slowly, up her arm, "Tell me how to diffuse the bomb, and I shall step aside." She said, hard-headed as ever.
 
Wincing at the continued onslaught, Archangel knew that a battle of attrition wasn't going to work in his favour. "Maybe I don't need to," he muttered.

He flared his power, eyes lighting up once more, but instead of a ray of light coming from his eyes he instead brought his hands together and then pushed outwards. A shockwave of heat and force spread outwards in a wide cone from his position, enough to knock the men from their feet and scatter their weapons, but not deal any lasting harm beyond minor burns and disorientation. He took care not to send any energy at the hopefully-fleeing hostages. Once they were out, he could focus his energy wholly on the battle, rather than having to hold his ground with the barrier.
 
The Minutemen were sent flying away from Archangel, "Target the hostages." One of that ordered, slowly picking himself up off the ground.

One of the armed Minutemen brought his gun up to aim at the fleeing hostages, ready to shoot them down just to beat their enemy.

A maelstrom of yellow lightning hit the gunman, sending him flying against a wall. The lightning was fast and didn't stay in one place for too long, it encased several civilians and caused them to seemingly disappear in multiple directions.

"It's him." Another Minutemen muttered, "We gotta go. Now." He told his allies, the yellow lightning shooting back into the lobby from the front door once all the hostages were gone.

It came to stop beside Archangel, the lightning swirling around a man dressed in a form-fitting red one-piece costume with a cowl that covered the top half of his head.

On his chest he bore a white round emblem, a yellow lightning bolt dead in the center.

He was the fastest man alive. He was The Flash.

"Need some help?" He asked Archangel, watching as the Minutemen began to cower away. They felt they could handle a lesser known hero, but The Flash was a Leaguer. Higher tier than they wanted to deal with at the moment.

Revere could hear the commotion upstairs, it was time to go now or end up in prison. He moved faster as he approached Solstice. "You're mistaken, sister. That bomb isn't a weapon, it's an escape route." The terrorist told the woman.

"We have a train to catch." Revere said, the muffled sound of an explosion being heard in the maintenance room behind Solstice. Revere gestured for his people to move, he himself intent on walking past Solstice.

"I'll see you soon. You seem stubborn enough to get my way again." He said as his people followed with Godfrey, "I'll open your eyes eventually."
 
Archangel's eyes were aglow, ready to take out the weapon of the Minuteman aiming for the hostages, only for Flash to swoop in in time to save him the effort. The young hero's eyes widened in recognition as the league hero came to a sudden stop at his side. "I ..." he hesitated, frowning faintly "... had it covered," he finished lamely. He could already see the headlines. 'Flash saves hostages in hotel attack'. He'd be lucky to get a footnote.

Still, this was no time to be petulant. It was probably for the best, anyway. Too much fame never did a hero any good, it seemed.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an explosion down below. For a moment his eyes went wide, expecting more to follow in a more catastrophic explosion... but none came. Definitely made the right call on the bombs, then.

"They're in the basement," he said to the Flash, hurriedly. "Their leader, and Godfrey. And another hero, too - she's trying to stop them. I can handle these guys," he nodded his head towards the Minutemen. "But it sounds like she needs help."
 
Solstice's eyes widened as she heard the bang. She covered her ears in panic, before realizing that there was no tragic explosion or a building collapsing. She winced, holding her shoulder where she was shot at, "Oh no you don't.." She muttered, holding out her good hand to freeze their feet to the floor again. She knew she couldn't handle these people alone, there was too many of them and they had already gotten her arm shot down.

But she had to try, that was part of her job, even if you were going to die trying.
 
"You sure?" The Flash asked Archangel, "You kept them busy for this long, give 'em hell." The Flash said to the young hero before he darted off in a small explosion of his yellow lightning.

"That was stupid." One of the Minutemen taunted, "You can't win against the Minutemen." Another boasted to Archangel.

Revere groaned in annoyance as he felt the cold creeping along his boots. "I gave you a chance to live." He told Solstice, "Kill her." He ordered his men.

They raised their guns, ready to open and that they did. In a few short seconds Solstice was going to be dead.

The bullets flew towards her quickly, but they would never find their mark. Yellow lightning zigged and zagged around the hallway in front of Solstice, keeping the bullets from hitting her.

The lightning stopped in front of the woman, dissipating slowly to allow The Flash to come into view.

"You've done enough. Get your arm looked at before you bleed out." The speedster told Solstice, "Take Godfrey with you. I'll handle these chumps." The Flash said, locking eyes with Revere.

"Let's make this quick." Revere said to the hero, "I wouldn't have it any other way." The Flash retorted, dashing towards the Sons of Liberty.

Several were sent to the ground, sliding across the iced floor that Solstice created.

"Get me out of here!" Godfrey called out to Solstice, he wasn't planning to stay a hostage for much longer.
 
Solstice's eyes widened as the words rang through her head, kill her. She put her hands up, preparing an ice shield, but the bullets never came. She dropped her hands to the side, her eyes watching the zig zag before it stopped in front of her.
Her breath caught in her throat, it was THE Flash. She always looked up the to the bigger heroes, not saying they were better, but just how they managed to brush hate off their shoulders like it was nothing.
"Thank you." Her soft voice said with a smile under the shaded cloak, before winking at him. One day she'd have to repay the favor, but right now, her arm was killing her and she needed to get Godfrey safe.
Solstice ripped off a bit of her cloak, ensuring it around her shoulder to slow the bleeding down. Her cold eyes locked with Godfrey before grabbing him around his shoulders, "Lets get you out of here."
She shot her hand out, a slab of ice beginning to slide under the pair. She held onto Godfrey to ensure he was not going to slip and fall, since this was not his element. The ice slid the two outside of the building safely, hopefully anyways.
 
"Can I not?" Archangel replied, turning his attention back onto the Minutemen as Flash sped away. "Only one way to find out, I guess."

Without further warning, Archangel spread his arms wide and a brilliant flash of light radiated from him, aiming to briefly blind the Minutemen for a second time that day. In the next instant, his wings beat, launching him forwards across the room to slam into the one Minuteman who was still armed, his fists wreathed in golden energy as he delivered a powerful jab towards the speedster's midsection to wind him, before attempting to tear the weapon from his grip with his other hand and melt it with a flare of celestial fire from his palm.

If successful, Archangel would toss the slagged weapon to the side, and deliver a roundhouse kick to the side of the Minuteman's head, aiming to knock him unconscious and send him sprawling.
 
Solstice and Godfrey would find cameras, bystanders, and law enforcement focused on them when they came sliding out into the street.

"Who is that?" A reporter called out, pointing at the two as they were swarmed. we enforcement. "She helped me. There's more metas inside." Godfrey told the SWAT team that approached them.

"Damn it!" A Minuteman cried out as he as blinded, "Not again!" The armed Minuteman said, raising his gun towards where Archangel was last standing.

He barely got two poorly aimed shots off before Archangel was on him, the punch to his torso causing him to double over.

The kick to the head knocked him out, but the other two Minutemen were quick to charge at Archangel. They were right, they did have an advantage with both speed and numbers and they were going to exploit that.

The two attempted to jump onto Archangel, hoping to pin him down and restrict his movements.
 
Speed and numbers might have been on the Minutemen's side, but Archangel was confident he had the advantage when it came to the limits of his powers. The angel spun around as the other two speedsters charged, just about able to turn to face them before they were on top of him. Their charge knocked him from his feet, but they had barely hit the ground in a dogpile when he unleashed another blast of light energy, launching the two men into the air.

As they arced away, he beat his wings, propelling himself straight back to his feet, and then leaping after one of the airborne Minutemen. "Fast won't help you when you're not on the ground," he growled, bringing a knee up to strike the man in the midriff as he fell with the intent of winding him enough to incapacitate him for the rest of the fight.

With his radiant armour holding up well under the now unarmed Minutemen's limited offensive potential, even though he was running low on gas after maintaining such a large shield around the hostages for so long, Archangel was confident he had enough fight left in him to deal with these guys.
 
Solstice walked through the battered and beaten basement, her eyes wincing at the flashing lights. She heard many different questions, but she had to get Godfrey to safety. She smiled under her cloak at the SWAT members,
"Whether you are with or against me, please make sure he is safe."
She spoke firmly, her hand applying pressure to the gunshot wound. She looked towards the building, frowning. All she could do now was hope the fellow Meta-Human would get out like she had.
 
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"What do we call you?" A reporter asked Solstice, "You must have a name!" Another said, chaining his head to try to get a look under the metahuman's hood.

"We have orders to move in." A nearby SWAT officer told the others, the police force rushing to take up positions at every possible entrance into the hotel.

Minutemen needed weapons if they were going to take down Archangel, they had speed and numbers, but he had his very own arsenal.

That became apparent when Archangel launched the two remaining Minutemen away and slammed his knee into one of their guts. The Minuteman crumpled, slamming down hard against the ground.

The last Minuteman hit the ground, rolling into the fall to throw himself back up to his feet.

He scanned the hotel lobby in search of a weapon, anything he could use to even the odds. "This won't work." The Minuteman said to himself, "We'll have to do this another time, Angel."

The Minuteman darted towards the exit, looking to make his escape into the city proper.
 
"Solstice." Was all the woman said, guarding her face from the reporters. She didn't have time for them to be harassing her. Right now, she had to make sure her acquaintance would end up okay. She chewed her lower lip, staring at the building under her hood. She shifted her shoulder, happy to realize there was no bullet stuck in her shoulder.

She grunted, placing her hand over the wound. It was definitely going to hurt tomorrow. She watched as the policemen began to take position. She mentally rolled her eyes, Let the meta-humans do the dirty work.. She thought to herself.
 
Archangel swivelled around in the air as the Minuteman he'd struck hit the ground, searching out his remaining foe and spotting him making a break for the door. "Not on my watch," he hissed, extending a palm towards the man and unleashing a bolt of concussive celestial energy at him, aiming to blast his legs out from under him and send him sprawling, if he could land the hit on the rapidly moving target.

Hit or miss, he swept down towards the last of the men, poised to grab him and - if he'd successfully taken him from his feet - pin him down to the ground.
 
The Minuteman made an attempt to jump away from the blast, but fate believed in irony and he was a few seconds too slow.

The blast hit one of his legs, immediately throwing him off balance before he could hit the ground again.

Then suddenly he was on the ground, Archangel holding him there. Moments later the SWAT team charged inside, weapons drawn and aimed at Archangel and the incapacitated metahumans.

"Show me your hands!" One of the police officers screamed at Archangel.
 
"A 'thank you' would do just fine," Archangel muttered, lifting his hands up and stepping back from the downed Minuteman. His wings stayed out, casting a golden glow on the room around him. "Their leader is still downstairs, if you feel like letting me get on with it," he added, scowling behind his mask.
 
Solstice watched as SWAT members moved into the hotel lobby, to ArchAngel. She quietly followed behind them, before noticing they had their guns drawn at him,

"Hey hey! He's a good guy." Solstice exclaimed, putting her hands up just in case, "He helped, put your weapons down, please." Solstice pleaded, glaring over at ArchAngel before turning her attention to the SWAT members. She was ignoring the throbbing pain in her arm, she just had to make sure ArchAngel would be okay, then she could get medical attention, if she felt like it.
 
"You need to back up!" One for the officers yelled at Solstice, "Go back outside and let us do our jobs." The officer told her.

"She's right!" A man called out, the officers turned their attention own the voice. It was The Flash once more, standing near the entrance to the basement.

"They're with me. And there's some guys downstairs who need some cuffs." He told the officers, many of them easing up slowly,

"Are you in the League?" One of them asked Archangel as he backed off.
 
"No," Archangel answered simply, slowly lowering his hands when the officers lowered their weapons. He folded his wings away, and both they and his shimmering armour disappeared as he let his powers recede. He turned around to face the Flash, nodding an acknowledgement to him.

"Thanks," he said, before glancing across at Solstice. "And to you, too," he added, then turned back to the Flash. "Are they all dealt with?"
 
"Of course." Solstice said, walking beside him and staring between the Flash and the police. She narrowed her eyes at the police,
"Thank you, Flash." Solstice said, bowing slightly. She placed her hand over her earlier wound, ice forming over it to help heal. When asked about the league, she scoffed slightly and leaned back, her arms over her chest.
 
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